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The misinformation distribution has spread to Telegram and other sources, video sites and livestreams that aren't part of the main HN / SV zeitgeist. I met a F
by mutagen 3y ago
The misinformation distribution has spread to Telegram and other sources, video sites and livestreams that aren't part of the main HN / SV zeitgeist.
I met a Flat Earther a couple of weeks ago, in the interest of building common ground and understanding I started talking to him about his sources and journey into this belief. His journey started with a trusted friend passing on a set of videos presenting this 'alternate' view of reality.
He passed on a few references, names that when searched bring up the usual set of QAnon results and unsavory backgrounds interspersed with links to sites and streams I've never heard of. I stopped at this shallow look at things but an intrepid journalist could map a variety of sources of livestreams and recorded talks that spread this.
- JKCalhoun 3y agoSo weird. I was under the impression that "Flat Earthers" were kind of a parody cult that started decades ago — not unlike "Birds are not Real".
- rospaya 3y agoThey were. It was a fun usenet meme I used to see, much like Trumps earlier runs for president, at some point you noticed that a lot of people didn't laugh.
- black_puppydog 3y agoI think it's time to acknowledge that "when searched" should really (statistically, if not in this case) mean "when searched on google.com which happens to share some stuff with youtube" The search results on google have been abysmal for very long; they might be harder to study for outsiders (no good indicators like popularity on individual links) but I wouldn't be surprised if they're just as bad an influence as youtube algos.
- jmye 3y agoOf course they are. The point in Google isn’t good search results - it’s results that generate ad revenue. Their search algorithm is absolutely going to prioritize the same “engagement” heavy nonsense that YouTube does.